A gift, an omen, and a lost Winter Queen
by A.R. Van Halleorg
Summary: The easiest part was bringing Emma back.


**Disclaimer: Words are mine. Characters are not.**

* * *

Regina stood in the middle of her chambers, a note in one hand and a stone bird in the other. A magpie. Regina tried to tune out Snow White as much as possible, but she couldn't help remembering an omen about a single magpie being bad. She looked back at the note, written in an unfamiliar hand, and cursed under her breath. She looked over at one of the waiting guards. "Send a messenger to King James. He should know that Snow White has gone missing."

"What if the King thinks you're responsible?"

"Have the messenger notify him that I've gone to get his daughter."

"Yes, my Queen," the man pressed his hand to his chest and bowed deeply before leaving the room.

Regina moved to her commode and set down the note and stone Magpie. She put her hands down on the commode's surface and let out a heavy sigh. Why did that irritable woman have to go and get herself abducted, just as she'd started to move on from her life in Storybrooke? She growled and shoved away from the commode, going back to the open balcony to look over the seas outside, not noticing as the note slipped and slowly made its way to the floor.

_A gift, an omen, and a lost Winter Queen._

* * *

Emma sat up in bed, breathing hard and looking around the room. She rubbed her hands over her sweaty face and hopped up, her feet hitting icy floors. She ran over to her dresser and grabbed a pair of socks, slipping them on as fast as she could. She hated winter. Really hated it.

With her feet now covered she could try to think about her dream. Who was the hot brunette and all those other weirdos? Why was that one blonde guy carrying a sword. Who even does that anymore?

Emma padded her way out of the room and made her way into the kitchen, pulling the fridge open. She bent to look in at the meager contents and cursed under her breath. She forgot they'd ordered in, because she clearly couldn't remember to stock the fridge. She sighed and slammed it shut, pressing her back against the door. Okay. The dream.

"Ma?" Henry peered around the corner at his mother with concern. She hadn't been sleeping very well and it seemed like that night wasn't any different. "Are you okay?"

Emma smiled at his concern. She really loved the Kid and he was growing into a fine young man. Any mother would be proud. She stood straight and pulled him into the kitchen, hugging him around the shoulders. Soon the pre-teen would be too big to hug like this.

"Uh, ma?"

"I'm fine. Just had another dream," she said quietly, afraid that if she said it too loud, it might come true. But what exactly was she afraid might happen? There wasn't anything particular about the dream that struck her as particularly dangerous.

"Yeah, well it's like you always tell me. It's just a dream; nothing a hot chocolate can't cure." He left her side and went to a cupboard at the far end of the kitchen, pulling out a box of hot chocolate packets.

"So that's where they went!" Emma muttered partly in outrage.

"I had to hide them for your own good, Ma. You were having like 10 a day!"

"Five!"

"That's still a lot!"

The two stared one another down until Henry walked past her and tugged on the door handle, bumping his mother with it. "Ma?" he asked when she didn't move.

"Oh, right." Emma moved away and watched as he took out the milk and got the pot out. She remembered how she used to this for him all the time as a child.

"So are you going to tell me what that dream was about or not?" he pressed.

Emma opened her mouth to answer, but a knock at the door stopped her. She looked to the oven to see the time and furrowed her brow. "Henry stay here." She left the kitchen and made her way to the front door, looking through the peephole at the stranger outside. "No way," she said, shaking her head. It wasn't possible. The knock came again. She slowly unlocked the door and pulled it open, looking straight into the dark eyes of the hot brunette from her dream.

The brunette took in the blonde's face and her struggle to speak, then smirked. "Still have difficulty finding words, Miss Swan?"

Emma did not look amused. Hot or not, who was this woman to show up on her doorstep at 3 in the morning and … insult her? Was she being insulting? Why did what she say almost sound like an inside joke?

"You don't know who I am, Miss Swan, but I've come to fetch you, Dear."

"Fetch me? What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"My name is Regina Mills. I'm the Queen of the Enchanted Forest," Regina stated, her voice completely steady and not a glimmer of a joke in her eyes.

"I must be losing my mind," Emma muttered.

"Ma? Who is that?" Henry asked from the entry to the kitchen.

"Henry I asked you to stay in the-"

"I am," he said, pointing at the divide between the kitchen and the rest of their place. He looked the brunette woman up and down and couldn't help feeling like he'd seen her somewhere before. "Do I know you?" he asked.

Regina shook her head, while tears formed in her eyes. He shouldn't remember, but it touched her that some part of him seemed to. "No, young man. You don't know me. At least, not anymore," she provided, earning a sharp look from the blonde. "Miss Swan, I realize I'm a stranger to you, but if you let me in and allow me to explain, I can answer all questions you might have right now."

Emma regarded her for several long moments, trying to decide if the woman was a threat or not. Clearly she was a bit of a nutter if she thought that Emma would buy the Queen of the Enchanted Forest bit, but beyond that, she seemed sane enough. How was it possible that she knew her son? "Come in."

Regina tipped her head respectfully and entered, making sure to brush her shoulder lightly against the blonde's arm as she moved past her.

Emma closed the door and watched the woman's back, before following her into her home. "Can I get you anything? We don't really have much in the fridge right now, but-"

"That won't be necessary, Dear. I simply require your attention and open mind," Regina brushed off and moved to the table, taking a seat. She looked around, pleased that Emma and Henry seemed to be living a happy little life. The place was full of greens, photos of them together, and it felt like a home.

Henry heard the sharp whistle of steam from the kitchen and rushed off. "I'll get it!"

Emma took a seat at the table and slumped back in the chair. "You know this is crazy right? You show up at 3 in the morning and tell me you're some Queen from the Enchanted Forest and I let you into my apartment I might add."

"Yes, well, it's not the worst decision you've ever made," Regina said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"And that. How do you know Henry and I? Neither of us has ever seen you before."

"That you can remember," Regina repeated with a nod.

"Okay, so if we have seen you before, why can't we remember?"

"That is a lengthy tale, Miss Swan," Regina said, truly uncertain as to where to begin.

"Well you asked for my attention and open mind, so go for it."

"I would wait for Henry to join us."

"Why?"

"Because my son has always been the bigger believer between the two of you." Regina mentally slapped herself at her words.

"Your son? Excuse me? I gave birth to him and he has been with me his entire life. He is _mine_," Emma growled, her eyes fierce and voice threatening.

"Forgive me," Regina raised her hands to show no ill-will. "That is not how I meant that to come out. Everything will be explained momentarily. Please, Miss Swan."

Emma glared at the dark pools before her, trying to find any hint that the woman was attempting to deceive her, but found nothing. Finally she nodded. "You get one chance."

Henry took the moment of silence to enter the room and place the teakettle on a cloth in the middle of the table. He eyed the stranger, a little curious about the words he'd overheard. "There's enough here for all of us," he explained, before going to get cups and hurrying back to the table. "My name's Henry," he said in introduction and placed a cup in front of the brunette.

"I know," Regina said with a smile. "My name is Regina."

Henry looked thoughtful for a moment before giving her a smile. "That means Queen, right?"

The brunette gave him her biggest smile and nodded. "That it does, Henry. It is why my mother chose it."

"Seriously? Your mother named you Queen and you're the Queen of the Enchanted Forest? How original," Emma muttered, grabbing the teakettle and pouring hot milk into her cup, watching the chocolate powder mix in with the white.

"I see the curse has done nothing to improve your attitude, Miss Swan."

Henry saw the look on his mother's face and knew now would be a good time to step in. "You're a Queen? Where's the Enchanted Forest? Is it the Enchanted Forest we always read about?" He took in every part of the stranger's face as he asked the questions, looking for a trick.

Regina knew her son had always been curious and willing to accept many things, but it felt different to be on the end where he was willing to believe her. His penetrating gaze didn't even bother her. It was one of the first thing he'd learned from her. "I am and the Enchanted Forest is nowhere that you might find on any map of this world, yet it is the one and same they speak of."

"Wow." He wasn't talking about the answers. He did know this woman.

"You're just going to accept that?" Emma eyed her son curiously.

"Of course. You can't have that many tellings of stories and not have some kind of truth in them," he said with a shrug. "Besides, look at her."

The blonde and brunette looked at one another, both a little uncertain as to what he was pointing out.

"Regina, why haven't you tried the hot chocolate yet? Don't you want to try it?" Henry prompted.

The look on her face as she contemplated the question and the fact that she hadn't tried it yet, was exactly what Henry was talking about. The guilt that settled on her features, looked a lot like the face he made when he felt like he'd done something wrong.

Emma's brows raised, clearly surprised. Her son clearly saw things her trained eye didn't.

"What?" Regina asked, looking between mother and son.

"He makes the same face as you." Emma knew it was impossible, but somehow it had to be possible. People had always pointed out the expressions her son made, curious if it had been learned from his father. "I think you should probably tell us your story now."

Regina pushed her mug towards the teakettle, with a little grimace. She'd never been fond of hot chocolate. "Where to begin," she wondered aloud. "I suppose I could start with how you lost your memories."

"Most people start with the beginning."

"I'm not most people, Miss Swan," Regina stated pointedly.

Emma believed her. There was something about this woman that made her think she was very different indeed.

"A woman, the Evil Queen, of Snow White's tale, cast a curse on the Enchanted Forest. She brought them all here, to a world without magic, where there are no happy endings. A place where she would finally get the ending she felt she deserved."

"All because Snow White was prettier than her?"

"Snow White is _not_ prettier than me," Regina growled, her eyes blackened with sudden rage.

"Woah, calm down," Emma said, putting her hand on Regina's arm and waiting til the woman looked calm again. "So you're this Evil Queen?"

"A title given by that wretched little brat," Regina confirmed. "I made sure her life was as boring as it could possibly be."

"So you cursed these fairy tale characters and ended up here?" Henry asked.

"Right."

"And the best you could come up with was to make their lives...boring?" Emma pointed out.

Regina ignored her. "Nearly three decades later, a woman came to their town and broke the curse, but it didn't send anyone back home to the Enchanted Forest. Something I discovered was intentional by the one who gave it to me in the first place. It was later on, that we found out that another wished to cast a similar curse and he wouldn't accept boredom as a fate for any of us. The only one who could stop it, was me. In order to do so, I had to give up the thing I cared for most in this world. The curse could not break otherwise."

"It was me, wasn't it?" Henry asked, already knowing the answer.

Regina felt the blonde's eyes on her and nodded at the young man before her. He'd changed in the year it had taken her to find them. "Breaking the curse would have left you alone. I couldn't let that happen and Emma…" she looked to the blonde then, finally meeting the inquisitive green. "You'd lived your entire life here. There was no one else who could stay with Henry."

"I've always had Henry," Emma repeated from earlier.

Regina shook her head, sad that she had to be the one to do this. The one to ruin the illusion. "Your memories, Miss Swan...they were a gift. I'd spent so long fighting you for our son's love and if I was going to lose him for good, I wanted him to have had the best life. You wished you'd never let him go, and I gave that to you."

"If any of this is true...why are you here now, trying to take it away?" Emma whispered. She tried to swallow, but it felt too painful. Why did it feel like she was about to lose everything. This woman had to be crazy, right? She wasn't actually going to take everything away and leave her alone like she'd spent most of her life?

Regina left her chair and knelt before the blonde. "Miss Swan...Emma…" she looked her directly in the eyes, making sure she had her attention. "I'm not here to take it away."

Henry watched as the Evil Queen of the Enchanted Forest raised shaking hands to his mother's face, leaned up, and kissed her lips. His eyes went wide and he was hit by some kind of wave of warmth.

Regina drew away from Emma, but only far enough to still share breath. Brown gazed into green and time seemed to go on forever. "Emma?"

"True love's kiss," Henry whispered in awe.

"Oh god," Emma uttered, her voice heavy in her chest. She threw herself forward and hugged Regina, tears pouring down her cheeks and held on tighter when she felt arms move around her waist.

* * *

I really have no idea where I'm going with this, but I'm going with it :)


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